Manifolding machine



Dec. 5, 1933. H. w. CARROLL, JR

MANIFOLDING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 2l, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l VV m7 /W ///A V/ M HH k S mn V. Huw M A m.\ (m.

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MANIFOLDING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 2l, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W SK Patented Dec. 5, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENTA FFICE MANIFOLDING MACHINE Hezekiah W. Carroll, Jr., Hoboken, N. J., assignor to Autographic Register Company, Hoboken, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Original application February 21,1927, Serial Nfo. 169,697. Divided and this application Novem-- ber 4, 1930. Serial No. 493,327'

9 claims. (o1. :isz-i6) This invention relates to manifolding machines, In the accompanying drawings which show and more particularly, to the type of manifolding one form of the present invention, that at presrnachine adapted to store a record copy within a ent preferredsuitable compartment provided for the purpose. Figure 1 is a sectional view of a portion of a This application is a division of my copending manifolding machine showing the record com- 60 application, Serial No. 169,69*?, led February 21, partment and the refolding means therein made 1927. in accordance with the present invention.

Heretoiore, many attempts have been made to Fig. 2 is a detail perspective View of a portion provide a record-storing device by means of which or the refolding mechanism shown in Fig. 1.

1o previously zig-zag folded record forms might re- Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional View of the feed 65 fold in the record compartment to provide a mechanism, showing the improved separator prosmooth pack or pile therein. But, with these provided by the present invention, and the manner posals it has been found that due to variations in which it separates the sheets in use. in pa er qualities and other changing character- Fig.l l is a side sectional view similar to Fig. 1,

istics such as atmospheric condition, these record but showing one of the positions that the piled- 70 tickets would not invariaoly refold properly in up record strip may assume in the operation of the record compartment. the device.

An object of the present invention is to pro- Fig. 5 is a plan View of the separator of the vide a record-storing device so constructed that present invention showing the related parts.

2o the record tickets are caused to properly refold In the drawings, the delivery end portion only 75 invariably so long as the machine is properly opof the manifolding machine is shown, because erated, and this is accomplished by forcing the only that part is needed to satisfactorily explain record strip and the tickets thereof to assume in the application of the present invention thereto. the record compartment what would seem to be At the delivery end of the manifolding machine,

an unnatural position but which, it appears, iathere are as usual provided feed rollers 10 and g@ cilitates the automatic refolding of the record pressure rollers l1, the latter being mounted in tickets therein. Although means are provided floating bracket 12, whose lower ends are provided for causing the record strips and the tickets therewith springs 13 anchored at 14 on the side plates of to assume an unnatural position in the record l5 of the manifolding machine, so that the pres- 3o compartment for refolding, yet the means are so sure rollers 11 bear against the feed rollers 10 85 provided should the record strip tend to rewith suflioient pressure to advance the issue-strips fold properly, the means provided will permit such 16 and the record-strip 17. Both the issue-strips folding without causing the strips to assume the 16 and the record-strip 17 before passing between unnatural position above referred to. the feed rollers 2O and pressure rollers 11 are it also been discovered, in connection with drawn over a platen 18 upon which the writing 90 registers of the kind named, both the type in operation is performed. From the platen the which the record strip is cut into separate record strips 16 and llpass under a hood 19 for the tickets and the type in which the record strip is pressure roller, and then at the other side of the caused to reiold in Zig-Zag fashion, that the sepfeed mechanism the issue-strips 16 are deected 4o aration of the record strip from the worksheets, upwardly out through an opening 20 constituted 95 which are issued from the machine, greatly acilby the tearing-oil edge2l forming part of the itates the control and positioning of the record hood 19 and a portion 22 of a top plate or cover tickets in the record compartment. To accom- 23 for the record supply compartment 24. plish this, the present invention provides a sepa- The record-strip 17 doesnot pass out through rator which is located between the feed and presthe opening 20 but extends downwardly under 100 sure rollers is made so thin and of such the portion 22 ci the top plate 23 into the record hard material as to occupy very little space becompartment 24, where, as below described, it tween the issue and record ticket. Preferably, is caused by mechanism to refold upon prethe separator blade is pivotally mounted so that existing perforated and folded lines. These lines,

it may accommodate itself to the rise and fall as usual, mark the ends of each form on the 105 movements of the paper in advancing, as for inissue and record-strips 16 and 17. The issuestance when folded portions of the strip approach strips, which extend out through the opening the bight of the feed and pressure rollers. 2l), are as usual severed from the machine by Other objects and advantages will hereinafter drawing the perforated lines on the strips over appear. the tearing-olf bar 21 after the strips have been 110 fed out a form length. The behavior of the record strip 17 in the record compartment will be described below.

Before doing this, however, attention is called to the provision by the present invention of improved means for insuring the certain and ccmplete separation of the issue and record strips as they are passing through the feed mechanism of the machine so as to prevent the perforated and folded portions of the one set of strips from dragging on the other and to prevent'said portions of the strips from creeping up into the spaces 27 and 28 which exist between the hood 19 and the pressure roller 11.

This separator comprises a thin, hard sheetmetal plate 30 having trunnions 31 at the for- Ward end of its side margin which engage holes in the brackets l2 carrying the pressure roller 11. The trunnions 31 and the holes therefor are so located in the separator plate 30 and the bracket l2 respectively, that the separator plate 30 will lie in a plane coinciding substantially with the bight of the feed rollers 10 and the pressure rollers 11, and so that the plate extends rearwardly to engage and smooth out the perforated and folded portion of the issue-strips 16 and the recordstrip 17 and separate the one from the other, the issue-strips 16 going over the plate 30 while the record-strip 17 is directed under the plate 30. The plate 30 is provided with cut-out portions 33 in the vicinity of the feed rollers 10 and pressure rollers 11 so as to permit the issue-strips 16 to be deflected downwardly and the record-strip 17 to be deflected upwardly into the apertures 33 where said strips engage each other and by means of the rotation of the feed rollers 10 and pressure rollers l1 and the friction produced therebetween are caused to feed when such operation is intended.

At its front end, the separating plate 30 functions to prevent the issue-strips i6 from being dragged down into the record compartment under the portion 22 of the top plate 23, because at this point the issue-strips 16 are separated from the record strip 17 and, moreover, there is very little space left between the portion 22 under which the record strip travels and the front end of the separating plate 30 into which the issuestrips could pass.

The separating plate 30 described above may advantageously be used in any type of manifolding machine whether the record-strip is retained in the machine or not. However, it is particularly advantageous in case where the record-'strip is liable to meet with some obstacle against which it must be pushed or by reason of which it must flex one way or the other. Hence, it is extremely advantageous to use the separator plate in connection with manifolding machines of the record-storing type in which the record-strip usually, and in accordance with the present invention, actually does meet with some resistances or retarding action in being fed into the record compartment.

Having described the way in which the recordstrip and issue-strips are separated in accordance with this invention, the refolding mechanism will now be described.

It has been found in practice that when the record compartment 25 is provided with no mechanism of any kind, and there are no deiiectors or other means for handling the record-strip, the previously folded and perforated record-strips fed from a supply compartment as indicated at S by thefeed mechanism, uponentering the record compartment and being allowed absolute freedom therein, might refold of its own accord and continue to do so for some little time. But before long, the strips get balled-up and do not fold upon the previously folded and perforated lines. The reasons for this erratic operation or" the strip are many, a slight variation in quality of the paper o1' a slight variation in depth of the perforations on the folded line or a slight inaccuracy in the fold along the line of perforations might cause this sudden change in the action of the paper.

Hence, means have been provided, heretofore, for the purpose of assisting the record-strip so that, even if the tendency to fold be very slight, the assisting mechanism will insure the fold at the proper place. Some of these previously proposed devices have been found to materially reduce the danger of balling-up the record strip in the record compartment. Yet it has been found that even with such proposals occasionally the record strip would not fold as it was intended along the said folded and perforated lines, but would curl up in the machine, and, finally, due to the accumulation of paper immediately in front of the delivery sideof the feed rollers cause the machine to jam.

The present invention, however, avoids this danger of the record-strip balling-up in the record compartment so long as there is no tear or other serious damage in the record-strip itself before it gets to the record compartment.

This is accomplished, according to the present invention, by providing means which cause the record-strip in the record compartment to either 1' jf fold accurately on the line or to assume an unusual position which experiments have shown to be the most natural position for causing the strip to refold. The means provided for this purpose by the present invention comprise a supporting 3 5 plate 34 hinged at 35 to the top plate or cover 23 of the record compartment 24. This supporting plate is shown in detail in Fig. 2, and has at its lower end a rolled part 36 which prevents the supporting plate from tearing the record-strip or from being caught accidentally thereon.

This supporting plate 34 is located directly in the path of the record-strip 17 as it is issued from the feed mechanism comprising the feed rollers 19 and pressure rollers 11, and in this position it deflects downwardly the leading edge of the record-strip so that the same will engage the bottom plate 2e of the record compartment 24. If the folds between the form lengths of the record-strip 17 are sharp and there are no peculiar characteristics about the paper to prevent easy folding of the record-strip along the folded line, the record-strip will pass under the supporting plate 34 and assume its natural folded position in the supply compartment, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1, when one form is fed, and the position shown in dot-and-dash lines 37 shown in Fig. 1 when the next form is fed.

The full lines show the position the strip occupies when the record-strip is folded to the right as seen in Fig. l, and the dot-and-dash lines 37 indicate the position the strip will be in when the next form. length of the record-strip is fed. The fold 38 of the record-strip shown in Fig. lwill then lie dcwn on the pile 39 while the fold 40, which is up near the feed mechanism see Fig. 1, will lie at 41 on the pile 39.

When, however, a fold is reached which is not so sharp and where the tenency for the sheets to fold by falling freely and passing under the supporting plate 34 does not exist, the record strip is held-up by the supporting plate 34 and is not permitted to fall. Thereafter, as the forms are fed, the record-strip is folded Zig-zag in a curved or curvilinear form, the upper end being near the top of the supporting plate 34 and the lower end resting against a Wall 42 provided in the record compartment, as shown in Fig. 4. Further referring to this figure, thefull lines show the position which the record-strip assumes when the fold 38 is against the pile 44 supported by the supporting plate 34 and the fold 40 the reverse direction is adjacent the delivery side of the feed-rollers 10 and pressurerollers 11. When the next form length of the record-strip is fed by the feed mechanism, the fold 40 is carried down until it lies at 46 as shown by the dot-and-dash lines 47 where the fold 46 is against the plate 42.

Experience has shown that the record-strip 17 folds more accurately and positively While in the inclined curvilinear form shown in Fig. 4 with the folds 38 and 41 located at substantially the same distance from the delivery side of the feed mechanism than by merely depending on the strips falling in proper position by themselves.

When the depth of the curved pile 44 of the folded record-strips increases, the Weight and tension thereof moves the supporting plate 34 in the irection of the arrow shown in Fig. 4, and, as soon as the weight and tension become suicient, the plate 34 slips up and allows the pile 44 to drop upon the previously folded pile 39', Fig. 4. Thereafter, as the advancement of the strips continues, the folded record strip 17 may slip by the supporting plate 34 or it may not, depending upon the conditions of the folds, but eventually conditions will arise wherein the folded record-strip does not pass the supporting plate 34 and then the record strip continues to pile up against the plate 34 until the condition shown in Fig. 4 exists.

Under discovery that some parts of the recordstrip refold better in a curved position, such as shown in Fig. 4, experiments were made to ascertain whether it would be advantageous to cause the record-strip to assume this position from the very beginning. However, these experiments have shown that when the record-strip 17 piles up against the supporting plate 34 to a pile of sufdcient thickness for handlingr a pack of strips, enough room is not left between the top of the pile and the feed mechanism for proper refolding.

By making the supporting plate 34 of the desired weight or by suitably biasing it by spring means and by changing its position with relation to the feed mechanism as permitted by a screw located in a slot 61 in a plate 62 on which the supporting plate 34 is pivotally mounted, the thickness of the pile 44, which is supported by the plate 34, may be accurately predetermined, and hence by so arranging the supporting plate 34 it can be made to permit an escape of the pile 44 before the top of the pile too closely ap- '3 preaches the delivery side of the feed mechanism.

' Adjacent the feed rollers 10, the deflector 48 is slitted or cut-out to provide fingers 49 to extend between the feed-rollers 10 so that it may receive and guide the record strip 17 as it leaves the feed-rollers.

For the purpose of determining the position of the pile 39 and 39 in the record compartment,

there is provided a front plate 5l against-Which the right-hand-fold edges of the record-strip engage.

Otherwise, the record compartment may be of any suitable form or style having a front end 52 and a sliding or pivoted top door 23 as in the form shown.A When the door 23, by means of which access is had to the pile, is hinged as at 53 it is rpreferable to have the portion 22 thereto which extends under the tearing off edge 21 of the hood hinged thereto at 54, so that, when the door is closed the portion 22 is swung downwardly on the hinge 54 enabling the leading edge of the portion 22 to extend under the tearingoff bar 21, thereafter the movement of the vdoor is completed and the portions 22 align with the main portions of the door 23.

To aid in deflecting the record strip 17 and to prevent the perforated and'folded margins of the forms from catching on the hinge 54, a deiiector plate 55 is secured to the front edge of the portion 22.

Of course, if desired, the supporting plate 34 may be hinged to the side plate 56 of the record compartment. However, it is advantageous to have it hinged on the door 23, because by such an arrangement when the door 23 is swung upwardly to give access to the record compartment the supporting plate 34 is automatically withdrawn therefrom, and free access is had to the folded record strip 17 in the record compartment.

With reference tothe disclosure herein of means for separating the strips in the vicinity of the feed rolls, attention is callled to my copending application Serial No. 169,697, filed February 21, 1927, of which this is a division, in which said subjects-matter is claimed.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of this invention and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and for which it is desired to obtain Letters-Patent, is:

1. In a manifolding machine having a platen over which at least one issue-strip and a recordstrip are led from a zig-zag folded condition in a supply compartment; mechanism for advancing said strips over said platen form-lengths; and a record compartment into which said recordstrip is led to there become refolded in a Zig-zag folded pile: means yieldingly held in normal position in said record compartment with such force that when engaged by the record-strip said means causes the record-strip in Zig-zag folded fashion to be suspended in said record compartment in an intermediate position in which proper Zig-zag folding is insured, said force being light enough to permit the said means to yield and permit passage of said record-strip when the latter by cooperation with said means assumes a Zig-zag folded condition Without being detained in intermediate position.

2. In a manifolding machine having a platen over which at least one issue-strip and a recordstrip are led from a Zig-Zag folded condition in a supply compartment; mechanism for advancing said strips over said platen form lengths; and a record compartment into which said recordstrip is led to there become refolded in a zig-zag folded pile: means held in substantially perpendicular position in said record compartment adapted to be engaged by the record-strip to cause the record-strip when tending not properly to refold to be suspended in said record compartment in inclined position intermediate the nal position of the refolded strip in the record compartment in which intermediate inclined position proper refolding is insured by reason of said inclined condition of the refolding record-strip.

3, In a manifolding machine having al platen over which at least one issue-strip and a recordstrip are led from a zig-zag folded condition in a supply compartment; mechanism for advancing said strips over said platen form lengths; and a record compartment into which said recordstrip is led to there become refolded in a zig-zag folded pile: a stop in the record compartment for determining the location therein of the refolding record-strip fold which lies at the side t0- ward the strip-advancing mechanism; and means in the record compartment adapted to be engaged by the part of the record-strip adjacent the folds on the side away fromthe strip-advancing mechanism, said means being so biased and positioned as to cause the record-strip When tending not properly to refold to be suspended in said record compartment in a position intermediate the final position of the refolded record-strip in the record compartment, in which position the record-strip folds on the side away from the stripadvancing mechanism are located at substantially the same distance from the latter as the folds which are engaged by said stop.

4. In a nianifolding machine having a stripadvancing mechanism; and a record-compartment in advance of said strip-advancing mechanism into which a record-strip is led to refold along previously creased lines: means in said record-compartment for causing said refolding record-strip to be suspended therein in an intermediate position, said means being mounted to yield under the influence of a predetermined accumulation of suspended refolding record strips to permit said accumulation to escape therefrom and fall into final position in the record-compartment. l

5. In a manifolding machine having a stripadvancing mechanism; and a record-compartment in advance of said strip-advancing mechanism into which a record-strip is led to refold along previously creased lines: a pivoted inember in said record-compartment and located in position for causing said refolding record-strip to be suspended'therein in an intermediate position, said pivoted member being adapted to swing upwardly under the iniiuence of a predetermined accumulation of suspended refolding record-strip to permit said accumulation to slip thereunder and fall into final position in the record-compartment.

6. In a manifolding machine having a stripadvancingmechanism; and a record-compartment in advance of said strip-advancing mechanism into which va record-strip is led to refold alongpreviousiy creased lines: a supporting plate in said record-compartment for causing said refolding record-strip to be suspended therein in an intermediate position, said supporting plate being mounted to move clear of the record-strip under the iniiuence of a predetermined accumulation of said suspended refolding record-strip to permit said accumulation to escape and fall into final position in the record-compartment.

7. In a manifolding machine having a stripadvancing mechanism; and a record-compartment in advance of said strip-advancing mechanism into which a record-strip is led to refold along previously creased lines: a supporting plate in said record-compartment for causing said refolding record-strip to be suspended therein in an intermediate position, said supporting plate being mounted to move clear of the record-strip under the iniiuence of a predetermined accumulation of said suspended refoiding record-strip to permit said accumulation to escape and fall into nal position in the record-compartment; and means for adjusting said supporting plate toward and from the strip-advancing mechanism.

8A In a rnanifolding machine having a platen over which at least one issue-strip and a recordstrip are led from a zig-zag folded condition in a supply compartment; mechanism for advancing said strips over said platen of form lengths; and a record compartment into which said record-strip is led to there become refolded in a sig-zag folded pile; means in the record compartment having a flat surface normally lying in a perpendicular plane facing the advancing mechanism adapted to be engaged by the record-strip to cause the record-strip when tending not properly to refold to be suspended in said record compartment in curvilinear form intermediate the final position of the refolded strip in the record compartment.

9. In a manifolding machine having a platen over which at least one issue-strip and a recordstrip are led from a zig-zag folded condition in a supply compartment; mechanism for advancing said strips over said platen of form lengths; and a record compartment into which said record-strip is led to there become refolded in a zig-zag folded pile; means in the record compartment having a flat surface normally lying in a perpendicular plane facing the advancing mechanism adapted to be engaged by the record-strip to cause the record-strip when tending not properly to refold to be suspended in said record compartment in inclined position intermediate the final position of the refolded strip in the record compartment in which intermediate inclined position proper refolding is insured by reason of said inclined condition of the refolding record-strip.

HEZEICIAH W. CARROLL, JR. 

